1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing an electron-emitting element which can be applied to an electron gun, electron tube, vacuum tube, field-emission display (FED), and the like and an electronic device.
2. Related Background Art
With the recent advances in micropatterning techniques in the semiconductor technology, the field of vacuum microelectronics has undergone rapid development. A field-emission display (FED), in particular, has received a great deal of attention as one of the next-generation electronic deices having display functions. This is because the two-dimensional arrangement of microelectrodes serving as field-emission type electron-emitting elements in an FED, unlike a conventional CRT display, essentially eliminates the necessity of deflection/convergence of electrons to realize a flat display.
As a material used for microelectrodes of such an FED, diamond is in the limelight. This is because, diamond has negative electron affinity, which is a very effective property for an electron-emitting element. By forming microelectrodes using diamond, electrons can be emitted from the microelectrodes at a low voltage.
For example, as electron-emitting elements made of diamond, the elements disclosed in NEW DIAMOND, Vol. 13, No. 4, p. 28 (1997) and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-312735 are known. The former discloses an electron-emitting element formed by processing doped diamond in the shape of a needle (see FIG. 18). The latter discloses an electron-emitting element formed into a pyramidal shape by a diamond synthesis technique (see FIG. 19).